LLVM-REMARKUTIL(1)

๐Ÿ’… LLVM-REMARKUTIL(1) ๐Ÿ’…

okay so bestie, welcome to the llvm-remarkutil manual page โ€” this is the LLVM project's little remark-handling Swiss Army knife, and yes, it's giving main character energy. ๐ŸŽ€

โœจ NAME โœจ

llvm-remarkutil โ€” the Remark utility. that's it. that's the name. short, iconic, to the point. ๐Ÿ‘‘

โœจ SYNOPSIS โœจ

llvm-remarkutil [subcommmand] [options]

(yes, subcommmand has three m's in the original โ€” I don't make the rules, I just report them faithfully ๐Ÿ’€)

โœจ DESCRIPTION โœจ

So what does this thing do? It's a utility for displaying information from, and converting between, different remark formats โ€” you know, the ones documented over at <https://llvm.org/docs/Remarks.html>. lowkey essential if you're living that remark life. ๐Ÿฆ‹

โœจ SUBCOMMANDS โœจ

here's the squad, and they all slay in their own way:

  • bitstream2yaml โ€” reserialize bitstream remarks to YAML. โœจ
  • yaml2bitstream โ€” reserialize YAML remarks to bitstream. โœจ
  • instruction-count โ€” output function instruction counts. โœจ
  • annotation-count โ€” output remark type count from annotation remarks. โœจ
  • size-diff โ€” compute diff in size remarks. โœจ

๐ŸŽ€ bitstream2yaml ๐ŸŽ€

USAGE: llvm-remarkutil bitstream2yaml <input file> -o <output file>

Summary

Takes a bitstream remark file as input, and reserializes that file as YAML. glow-up in progress. ๐Ÿ’–

๐ŸŽ€ yaml2bitstream ๐ŸŽ€

USAGE: llvm-remarkutil yaml2bitstream <input file> -o <output file>

Summary

Takes a YAML remark file as input, and reserializes that file in the bitstream format. the reverse glow-up. ๐Ÿซถ

๐ŸŽ€ instruction-count ๐ŸŽ€

USAGE: llvm-remarkutil instruction-count <input file>
--parser=<bitstream|yaml> [--use-debug-loc] -o <output file>

Summary

Outputs instruction count remarks for every function. Instruction count remarks encode the number of instructions in a function at assembly printing time. ngl that's kind of a flex. ๐Ÿ’ช

Instruction count remarks require asm-printer remarks. (no asm-printer remarks, no counts โ€” that's just how it is, bestie ๐Ÿ˜ญ)

The CSV format is as follows:

Function,InstructionCount
foo,123

if --use-debug-loc is passed then the CSV will include the source path, line number and column. fancy. ๐ŸŒธ

Source,Function,InstructionCount
path:line:column,foo,3

๐ŸŽ€ annotation-count ๐ŸŽ€

USAGE: llvm-remarkutil annotation-count <input file>
--parser=<bitstream|yaml> --annotation-type=<type>  [--use-debug-loc] -o
<output file>

Summary

Outputs a count for annotation-type <type> remark for every function. The count expresses the number of remark checks inserted at the function. ๐Ÿ”ฅ

Annotation count remarks require AnnotationRemarksPass remarks.

The CSV format is as follows:

Function,Count
foo,123

if --use-debug-loc is passed then the CSV will include the source path, line number and column. yes, again. consistency queen. ๐ŸŽ€

Source,Function,Count
path:line:column,foo,3

๐ŸŽ€ count ๐ŸŽ€

..program:: llvm-remarkutil count โ€” yes I'm including this directive thing verbatim, don't @ me ๐Ÿ™ˆ
USAGE: llvm-remarkutil count [options] <input file>

Summary

llvm-remarkutil count counts remarks (<https://llvm.org/docs/Remarks.html>) based on specified properties. By default the tool counts remarks based on how many occur in a source file or function or total for the generated remark file. The tool also supports collecting count based on specific remark arguments. The specified arguments should have an integer value to be able to report a count. โœจ

The tool contains utilities to filter the remark count based on remark name, pass name, argument value and remark type.

OPTIONS

  • --parser=<yaml|bitstream> โ€” Select the type of input remark parser. Required. (you literally cannot skip this one bestie ๐Ÿ’€)
    • yaml: The tool will parse YAML remarks.
    • bitstream: The tool will parse bitstream remarks.
  • --count-by<value> โ€” Select option to collect remarks by.
    • remark-name: count how many individual remarks exist.
    • arg: count remarks based on specified arguments passed by --(r)args. The argument value must be a number. ๐Ÿ”ข
  • --group-by=<value> โ€” group count of remarks by property.
    • source: Count will be collected per source path. Remarks with no debug location will not be counted.
    • function: Count is collected per function.
    • function-with-loc: Count is collected per function per source. Remarks with no debug location will not be counted.
    • Total: Report a count for the provided remark file.
  • --args[=arguments] โ€” If count-by is set to arg this flag can be used to collect from specified remark arguments represented as a comma separated string.

The arguments must have a numeral value to be able to count remarks by. (no numbers, no count, periodt โœ‹)

  • --rargs[=arguments] โ€” If count-by is set to arg this flag can be used to collect from specified remark arguments using regular expression.

The arguments must have a numeral value to be able to count remarks by. (same deal ๐Ÿซถ)

  • --pass-name[=<string>] โ€” Filter count by pass name.
  • --rpass-name[=<string>] โ€” Filter count by pass name using regular expressions. ๐Ÿงš
  • --remark-name[=<string>] โ€” Filter count by remark name.
  • --rremark-name[=<string>] โ€” Filter count by remark name using regular expressions. ๐Ÿงš
  • --filter-arg-by[=<string>] โ€” Filter count by argument value.
  • --rfilter-arg-by[=<string>] โ€” Filter count by argument value using regular expressions. ๐Ÿงš
  • --remark-type=<value> โ€” Filter remarks by type with the following options:
    • unknown
    • passed
    • missed
    • analysis
    • analysis-fp-commute
    • analysis-aliasing
    • failure

๐ŸŽ€ size-diff ๐ŸŽ€

USAGE: llvm-remarkutil size-diff [options] file_a file_b --parser parser

Summary

llvm-remarkutil size-diff diffs size remarks (<https://llvm.org/docs/Remarks.html>) in two remark files: file_a and file_b. ๐Ÿฆ‹

llvm-remarkutil size-diff can be used to gain insight into which functions were impacted the most by code generation changes. the way this finds the drama in your functions... obsessed.

In most common use-cases file_a and file_b will be remarks output by compiling a fixed source with differing compilers or differing optimization settings. ๐Ÿ‘‘

llvm-remarkutil size-diff handles both YAML <https://llvm.org/docs/Remarks.html#yaml-remarks> and bitstream <https://llvm.org/docs/Remarks.html#llvm-bitstream-remarks> remarks. versatile icon.

โœจ OPTIONS โœจ

  • --parser=<yaml|bitstream> โ€” Select the type of input remark parser. Required.
    • yaml: The tool will parse YAML remarks.
    • bitstream: The tool will parse bitstream remarks.
  • --report-style=<human|json> โ€” Output style.
    • human: Human-readable textual report. Default option.
    • json: JSON report.
  • --pretty โ€” Pretty-print JSON output. Optional.

If output is not set to JSON, this does nothing. (literally nothing. it's just sitting there being cute ๐Ÿ™ˆ)

  • -o=<file> โ€” Output file for the report. Outputs to stdout by default.

โœจ HUMAN-READABLE OUTPUT โœจ

The human-readable format for llvm-remarkutil size-diff is composed of two sections:

  • Per-function changes. ๐ŸŽ€
  • A high-level summary of all changes. ๐ŸŒˆ

๐Ÿ’œ Changed Function Section ๐Ÿ’œ

Suppose you are comparing two remark files OLD and NEW.

For each function with a changed instruction count in OLD and NEW, llvm-remarkutil size-diff will emit a line like below:

(++|--|==) (>|<) function_name, N instrs, M stack B

A breakdown of the format is below:

  • (++|--|==) โ€” Which of OLD and NEW the function_name is present in.
    • ++: Only in NEW. ("Added") โœจ
    • --: Only in OLD. ("Removed") ๐Ÿ’€
    • ==: In both. ๐Ÿซถ
  • (>|<) โ€” Denotes if function_name has more instructions or fewer instructions in the second file.
    • >: More instructions in second file than first file. ๐Ÿ“ˆ
    • <: Fewer instructions in second file than in first file. ๐Ÿ“‰
  • function_name โ€” The name of the changed function.
  • N instrs โ€” Second file instruction count - first file instruction count. ๐Ÿ”ข
  • M stack B โ€” Second file stack byte count - first file stack byte count. ๐Ÿงฎ

๐Ÿ’œ Summary Section ๐Ÿ’œ

llvm-remarkutil size-diff will output a high-level summary after printing all changed functions.

instruction count: N (inst_pct_change%)
stack byte usage: M (sb_pct_change%)
  • N โ€” Sum of all instruction count changes between the second and first file.
  • inst_pct_change% โ€” Percent increase or decrease in instruction count between the second and first file.
  • M โ€” Sum of all stack byte count changes between the second and first file.
  • sb_pct_change% โ€” Percent increase or decrease in stack byte usage between the second and first file.

โœจ JSON OUTPUT โœจ

๐Ÿฆ‹ High-Level view ๐Ÿฆ‹

Suppose we are comparing two files, OLD and NEW.

llvm-remarkutil size-diff will output JSON as follows.

"Files": [
  "A": "path/to/OLD",
  "B": "path/to/NEW"
]

"InBoth": [
  ...
],

"OnlyInA": [
  ...
],

"OnlyInB": [
  ...
]
  • Files โ€” Original paths to remark files.
    • A: Path to the first file.
    • B: Path to the second file.
  • InBoth โ€” Functions present in both files.
  • OnlyInA โ€” Functions only present in the first file.
  • OnlyInB โ€” Functions only present in the second file.

๐Ÿฆ‹ Function JSON ๐Ÿฆ‹

The InBoth, OnlyInA, and OnlyInB sections contain size information for each function in the input remark files.

{
  "FunctionName" : "function_name"
  "InstCount": [
      INST_COUNT_A,
      INST_COUNT_B
    ],
  "StackSize": [
      STACK_BYTES_A,
      STACK_BYTES_B
    ],
}
  • FunctionName โ€” Name of the function.
  • InstCount โ€” Instruction counts for the function.
    • INST_COUNT_A: Instruction count in OLD.
    • INST_COUNT_B: Instruction count in NEW.
  • StackSize โ€” Stack byte counts for the function.
    • STACK_BYTES_A: Stack bytes in OLD.
    • STACK_BYTES_B: Stack bytes in NEW.

๐Ÿฆ‹ Computing Diffs From Function JSON ๐Ÿฆ‹

Function JSON does not contain the diffs. Tools consuming JSON output from llvm-remarkutil size-diff are responsible for computing the diffs separately. (yes bestie, you gotta do the math yourself, I believe in you ๐Ÿซถ)

To compute the diffs:

  • Instruction count diff: INST_COUNT_B - INST_COUNT_A
  • Stack byte count diff: STACK_BYTES_B - STACK_BYTES_A

โœจ EXIT STATUS โœจ

llvm-remarkutil size-diff returns 0 on success, and a non-zero value otherwise. clean, simple, no notes. โœ…

โœจ Author โœจ

Maintained by the LLVM Team (<https://llvm.org/>). shoutout to the maintainers, they're carrying. ๐Ÿ‘‘

2003-2026, LLVM Project. all rights reserved, all vibes reserved. ๐Ÿ’œ


okay that's the whole page bestie, you're officially a remark-util expert now โ€” go forth and diff those size remarks ๐ŸŒธ๐Ÿ’…โœจ

LLVM 15 โ€ข 2026-09-09 โ€ข LLVM-REMARKUTIL(1) โ€” mwah, thanks for reading, ily, bye! ๐ŸŽ€๐Ÿฆ‹๐Ÿ’–

๐Ÿ“ฆ where this page comes from